WILLIAM LANE ABERNATHY, vice president and director of the Citizens National Bank of Pulaski, was born in Giles county on the 28th of February, 1859, a son of W. H. and Elizabeth (LANE) Abernathy. The paternal grandparents were John R. and Cynthia (BORNE) Abernathy, natives of North Carolina, and the maternal grandparents were William and Sarah Lane, natives of Tennessee. W. H. Abernathy was born in 1822 and was a native of this state. He engaged in the mercantile business for some years, retiring prior to his death. He was justice of the peace for many years and contributed in a marked degree to the upbuilding of the community in which he resided. In religious faith he was a Presbyterian. Upon the outbreak of the Civil war he put all personal interests aside and enlisted in Company G, First Tennessee Cavalry, and was captain of said company until he had to retire on account of his health. His death occurred in 1901, and his wife, who was born in 1834, also died in 1901.

William Lane Abernathy received his early education in the public and private schools of Giles county and in due time enrolled in the Bryant & Stratton Commercial College at Nashville. In 1876 he made his initial step into the business world as private clerk in the Giles National Bank and three years later was elected assistant cashier of that institution. In 1892 it was reorganized and the name changed to the Citizens National Bank, and Mr. Abernathy was elected cashier. In 1923 he became president and a director of the institution. His long and varied experience has well fitted him for the many duties devolving upon him, and he has been a dominant factor in the continued growth of the bank.

At Spring Hill, on the 13th of November, 1883, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Abernathy and Miss Nora Pointer, a daughter of Captain Samuel and Cynthia Pointer, natives of Tennessee. To their union three children were born: Elise, who was born in 1886, is now the wife of Henry Quay McElwee, manager of the southern field for the Diamond Match Company and a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana; William Lane, Jr., born in 1888, is cashier of the Citizens Bank of Pulaski, Tennessee. He married Miss Lilly Reid Grigsby and they are parents of two children, Florence and W. L., III; Leon Pointer, born in 1893, is a veteran of the World war. He married Miss Virginia Wilds, and they are living in Wildsville, Louisiana. (Tennessee, The Volunteer State, 1769-1923, Vol. 2, John Trotwood Moore and Austin P. Foster, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1923, pp. 444-445)